President Donald
Trump’s tariffs on imported aluminum and steel are disrupting business for
American companies that buy those metals, and many are pressing for relief.

Hundreds of
companies are asking the Commerce Department to exempt them from the 25
percent steel tariff and the 10 percent aluminum tariff.

Other companies are
weighing their options. Jody Fledderman, CEO of Batesville Tool & Die in
Indiana, says American steelmakers have already raised their prices since
Trump’s tariffs were announced last month. Fledderman says he may be forced
to shift some production to a plant in Mexico in response to demands from
his customers.

On Wednesday, a
group of small- and medium-size manufacturers gathered in Washington to
announce a new group - the Coalition of American Metal Manufacturers and
Users - to fight the steel tariff.

The Trump
administration last month imposed the tariffs on steel and aluminum, arguing
that reliance on imported metals posed a threat to national security. But it
promptly granted temporary exemptions, which expire at the end of the month,
to several key U.S. allies, including the European Union, Canada and Mexico.

Steel- and
aluminum-consuming companies also can appeal to the Commerce Department for
exemptions - provided they can show they can’t obtain the metals they need
from U.S. producers. As of Tuesday, the department had received 2,180
requests for exemptions from the steel tariffs and 240 requests for relief
from the aluminum tariffs.

One applicant,
Pensmore Reinforcement Technologies of Ann Arbor, Michigan, says it can’t
find the quantity and quality of the steel it needs in the United States.
Pensmore makes a steel-fiber reinforcement product that goes in tunnels and
bridges and that is being considered for use in Trump’s proposed U.S.-Mexico
border wall.

Once the department
posts the requests online, it has 90 days to reach a decision. So far, it
has posted only a few dozen of the more than 2,000 requests.

“It sure seems like
Commerce is just drowning in exclusion requests and will struggle to burn
through them,” says David Spooner, a partner at the law firm of Barnes &
Thornburg and a former U.S. trade negotiator.

Commerce is
reviewing the requests on a company-by-company basis instead of making
across-the-board exemptions for individual steel and aluminum products. That
approach means it will have to handle more applications.

It also raises the
possibility that one company could receive an exemption from the tariffs
while another would be forced to pay tariffs on the same product - perhaps
because in the time between the two requests, domestic U.S. production has
ramped up to fill shortages.

In addition,
companies that want exemptions are finding that the request forms are
“confusing, complex and full of traps for the unwary,” says Richard Chriss,
president of the American Institute for International Steel, which opposes
the tariffs.

“Companies don’t
like to share that information,” Nicely says. “I’ve had clients who’ve
decided not to proceed. They say, ‘If I provided all this information, I
could put myself out of business’ “ by giving away secrets to competitors.